About 80 percent of adults experience lower back pain (LBP) at some point in their lifetimes. About 20 percent affected by acute LBP develop chronic LBP with persistent symptoms at one year. In 2010, a study ranked LBP as the third most burdensome conditions in the U.S. in terms of mortality or poor health, only ischemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ranking higher. Back pain is the #2 reason adults visit doctors and #1 reason for orthopedic visits. Each year million people go to the doctor for chronic back pain which leaves 2.4 million Americans chronically disabled and another 2.4 million temporarily disabled. Bulging and herniated discs, central and foraminal stenosis, epidural lipomatosis, hypertrophies of the facet joints and ligamenta flava, to name a few only are the main reasons of LBP for many people. Back pain is a worldwide problem.
The inventor has been suffering from the LBP for some time caused by diseases including bulging disc, low grade anterolisthesis, central and bi-lateral foraminal stenosis, lipomatosis, hypertrophy of facet joints and ligamenta flava. He was advised spinal decompression physical therapy; underwent the therapy and got temporary relief. During the therapy, he lied flat on his back on a table top bed, his chest was restrained—from movement by a belt wrapped around and tied to the table, while another belt wrapped around his lumbar was pulled by a motorized cable exerting a tensile force on the spine. This device is big and only usable under restricted conditions. Intermittent but regular use of decompression and traction is presently not very practical, because each time the patients who do not have home traction device have to go to physical therapists. Besides, home traction devices are big and not readily usable. The present invention is a vest which contains an embedded detachable decompression and traction device in it and a means to measure the force of decompression and traction. The use of lumbar supports in the form of wide elastic bands which can be tightened to provide support to the lower back and abdominal muscles to prevent low back pain is widespread. These lumbar supports are not very useful because of lack of strength and their inability to (1) share a large portion of downward axial loads imposed on the spine and (2) provide decompression relief whoever wants it.